McCarville thought shooters' politics funny

Friday

Oct 6, 2017 at 1:01 AM

Mary Clarkin

Reno County District Judge Joseph McCarville said he thought a Facebook post showing a list of mass shooters described as registered Democrats – eight – and the number of mass shooters who were members of the National Rifle Association – zero – was “funny.”

That’s why he shared on his Facebook page the Mass Shooters meme that appeared on a Facebook page belonging to U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina.

McCarville is a Republican. Asked if he was a member of the N.R.A., he said, “Well, of course.”

“I thought it was somebody’s attempt at humor,” said McCarville of the list that went viral on Facebook.

McCarville said he thought it was ironic that Jared Lee Loughner, who shot then-Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in 2011 in Arizona, was a Democrat.

The fact-checking Snopes.com has found errors or conflicting information in other similar lists. For example, Loughner was registered as an independent in 2006 and did not vote in 2010 when Giffords was on the ballot. The shooter at Virginia Tech was not a Democrat, and the shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary had an NRA guide at home.

Snopes concluded that the majority of the shooters that have appeared on various lists had no official connection to a political party and the majority of the incidents were not motivated by politics.